Complex and contested global events and issues can be hard to engage with, misunderstood, or simply overwhelming when trying to wade through a sea of jargon. What is actually being said? What is the message behind the terminology? Is it understood in the same way globally?
These questions (and more) are central to this event series. We hosted a rich array of guests, including activists, faculty members, students, and others to explore how a specific everyday word is understood and used in their context, sharing with one another differences, commonalities and the associated implications.
This three part community engagement series created an opportunity for students, faculty members, and community partners to come together and explore concepts and ideas centered around social activism and social impact.
Cancel Culture
Allyship
Justice
These three commonly used ‘buzzwords’ were deconstructed and examined by students, academics, and activists alike.
Cancel Culture explored questions such as:
- Cancel culture: is it simply mob mentality, or is there value we can draw from it? Is there value in mob mentality?
- Does cancel culture only exist in ‘activist/social justice’ spheres? Can we cancel family, friends?
- How does performative activism relate with cancel culture?
- What does cancel culture look like outside of events or something that someone said? Before social media?
Allyship engaged with questions such as:
- How do you create a distinction between friendship and allyship? What about solidarity and allyship? What are the differences?
- How does allyship operate at an institutional level (i.e. universities, workplaces, governments, etc.)?
- Do you believe people can consistently practice allyship? And if so, how?
- What kind of strategies or approaches have you taken to encourage more listening than speaking / more reflection before doing?
Justice asked questions such as:
- Why is the term justice being applied to so many different movements (i.e. climate justice, gender justice, disability justice, etc.) ?
- What is your experience around performative cycles in your work, and what would you like to see happen differently?
- Everyone’s experiences/knowledge systems differ, how can we approach justice to not be “one size fits all?”
- We see so much burnout in these movements and spaces because it becomes so overwhelming. How do you maintain your own wellbeing, and motivation/hope?
Moderators’ Reflections
“Why did you develop this event series?”
Maryjane Sexton: In launching this event series, I wanted to create a space for students who, like myself, want to be involved in advocating for positive social change, but who don’t always know where to start. Prior to coming to UBC, I had a limited “social justice vocabulary,” which meant I spent a lot of time either pretending to know what people were talking about, or simply staying out of the conversation. For students who felt ostracized or left out of conversations, this event series was intended to create a safe and welcoming space to learn and ask questions, free of judgment.
While planning this series, we were also acutely aware of how communities and movements can engage with the same word in very different ways. I was excited to be in conversation with community leaders, students, and academics, and learn about how they all approach social activism in different ways. Advocacy is not “one size fits all” and I hoped to create a space where we welcomed a diverse range of perspectives. As the Office of Regional and International Community Engagement, we strive to find intersections across disciplinary and geographical boundaries, and this event series allowed us to engage with people from many different positions.
Ananya Ivaturi: When COVID-19 hit in 2020, I started to venture into the space of activism through social media. It was a great place to stay informed and learn about social justice issues, but with time I realized that misinformation and performative activism were very common in these digital spaces. So, I wanted to create a space that helped in breaking down these complex social justice issues with the right information and the right people. Similar to Maryjane’s perspective, the event series was about creating safe space for vulnerable conversations and promoting learning for all individuals, whether they were just getting started or were established activists. The event series was a way of encouraging more people to join these conversations and learn from each other, without the fear of being “canceled.”
“What was the benefit to hosting such a wide range of panelists?”
MS: For myself, I felt the range of panelists – in profession, perspective, positionality, etc. – helped to facilitate an actual conversation. This event series was intended to be a conversation, rather than a lecture or workshop. We did not have any predetermined talking points we wanted our panelists to hit, instead we wanted to foster a safe learning environment, allowing panelists to learn from each other, as well as allow for the audience to learn from the panel. People disagreed with each other, people learned from each other, and people engaged in deep conversations with each other. I think both the panelists and the audiences benefited from stepping out of their “echo chambers” and learning from people outside of their regular circles.
AI: I’ve always believed that learning is about seeing things from different perspectives, especially when it comes to social justice issues. The benefit from hosting such a wide range of panelists was that you got to listen and learn from people who have witnessed the injustice, experienced it or even challenged it. Scholars, students, community leaders have all been a part of these events and that allowed us to get a mutli-disciplinary view all while sitting at one table.
“What was your biggest takeaway from this series?”
MS: In all three conversations, I was struck with how much people really want to engage in these sorts of open and constructive conversations. Before modering the first session, I was unsure about how the conversations would play out. I was asking myself questions like: Would there be hostility? Would people refuse to listen? Would people simply not want to engage?
I was truly impressed with how our panelists entered into this series with a desire to learn from each other. As a moderator, it made my job much easier when the panelists engaged in conversation with each other. I was also struck with how the audience engaged with the topic at hand – each session there were incredibly profound questions asked, which allowed me to more deeply reflect on what we had been discussing!
AI: Activism is a work in progress. Oftentimes, I believed that you cannot be an activist if you don’t know everything about the fight you are fighting. But after being a part of this event series, I know that there is no perfect activist. It’s about listening. It’s about learning from and with each other. As long as you are open to engage in these vulnerable conversations, set the right intention and make the effort to learn, you are an activist. Change isn’t limited to protests, social media hashtags and academia; change can happen in conversations and now more than ever, I know events like these are often the best place to start.
Maryjane Sexton (she/her) is in her final year of her Bachelor of Arts degree, studying History and French, and has been a Program Assistant for ORICE since May 2021.
Ananya Ivaturi (she/her/hers) is a 4th-year student pursuing a Major in Psychology with a Minor in Commerce at UBC, Vancouver. She is in her first year working for ORICE.
